Tuesday, 10 November 2015

It’stime to celebrate 15-year
anniversary of The Akshaya Patra Foundation. It is time to celebrate sincere and
dedicated service towards millions of underserved children. It is time to
celebrate the 15-year impact of ‘unlimited food for education’. The Foundation
began its journey of serving mid-day
meal way back in June 2000. The Akshaya Patra
Foundation’s birth springs from a story of compassion, which sowed the seeds
for a higher purpose. It is the moving story of one encounter that left a
lasting impact on His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Prabhupada – One day,
while looking out of a window at Mayapur, a village near Kolkata, Srila
Prabhupada saw a group of children fighting with street dogs over scraps of
food. This heart-breaking incident led to the resolve that: No one within a ten
mile radius of our centre should go hungry. Taking this inspiration forward the
Foundation has been striving towards the vision of ‘No child in
India shall be deprived of education because of hunger’.

The 15-year
anniversary of the Foundation is a time to
cherish the accomplishments and focus on the learning of past so many years. It
is also a time when the NGO wants to acknowledge and cherish the support it has
received from Government of India, various State Governments and corporate and
individual philanthropists. During the service of more than a decade, Akshaya Patra has witnessed the
potential of the school lunch programme in breaking the vicious cycle of
poverty-hunger-illiteracy. It has also witnessed that this programme has been
constructive in supporting underserved children who have the determination to
achieve big in life, just that they need little support and care from the
well-provided for ones.

Here is a summary of
study conducted by The Akshaya Patra Foundation across its serving states in
association with Sigma Research and Consulting Pvt. Ltd. in 2014 to understand
and establish the need, impact and continuance of implementing the Mid-Day MealProgramme. The outcome
of this study showed that classroom hunger was addressed significantly. It also
showed that the free school lunch positively impacted attendance and enrolment
across government schools. The recommended nutritional requirements of the
programme were being fulfilled and the food was healthy and hygienic too. It
was provided evidence that this programme addressed socialisation aspect among
children where both parents and children confirmed consuming the served meal
together, irrespective of caste, religion and economic status. As this trend
was observed across all Akshaya Patra serving locations, it also signified that
serving universal meal is indeed important.

As the Foundation
gears up to celebrate 15-year
anniversary, it also fathoms that continuous improvisation is a must to
reach its mission of feeding five million children by 2020. Akshaya Patra
provides a platform for all to know and get involved in this mission and
thereby supporting to fulfil the ambitions of its beneficiaries. This
anniversary lets pledge to provide mid-day meal and nourish the body and minds
of young citizens. You can support the organization by getting involved with
us. Know how you can support by visiting get-involve.